Madhyama Pratipada wrote:A friend and I are seeking to compile a comprehensive list of Buddhist meditation styles across traditions.

Hi Madhyama Pratipada

Apologies for butting in but I was wondering if the list you are compiling has a specific purpose more than say for personal interest ...

Madhyama Pratipada wrote:Forgive me for enjoying list-making so much.

... or the joy attained in list making.

If there is a specific purpose it may be helpful or of benefit for the reader to know what that purpose is.

.......

As a meditation enthusiast and avid list maker, the task of compiling a comprehensive list of meditation styles is of great interest to me.

At HamsterWheel, we're in the process of designing a new feature where participants can log their meditation practice using a visually informative chart. For ease of use, participants will be able to choose from an existing list of various styles of meditation and related activities, allowing them to log their practice simply with a few clicks of the mouse. We want the available options to be as thorough and inclusive as possible, as the charting feature will be open to participants from all traditions. Hence our reason for inquiring about the various styles of meditation practiced within the different schools of Buddhism.

Not only that, but it's a project I've been thinking about conducting for a while now due to a personal interest in all things meditation and research-oriented.

gregkavarnos wrote:Well, I must say you have quite a task ahead of you. At the retreat seminar I went to this year we learnt around twenty different techniques for shine (calm abiding) meditation.

In one Pali sutta at least 50 different objects of meditation are taught, in other about 20. This was for calming meditation (shine) - the object depended on the personality of the person and their predominant klesha.

Madhyama Pratipada wrote:Meditation for the purpose of this list refers to formal practice, particularly within the categories of shamatha and vipashyanā. A few examples from the present Mahayana list of meditation styles are included below:

For the most part all meditation can be classified as shamata or vipashyana or both. Some meditation is all three with the emphasis changing as the practitioner develops or changes their practice (Zen meditation is typically like this over time although many people coming from an exclusively Tibetan background misunderstand Zen or be shamata only or sometimes vipashyana only).

Meditation can also be classified as analytic or non-analytic. So immediately a beginning taxonomy can be developed using shamata, vipashyana, analytic and non-analytic as top member classifications from which all other meditation can be derived. This may prove useful if you include the degree to which a classification is true as a link (in other words, this kind of classification in inherently fuzzy). Zen meditation, for example, is not analytic, at least as taught in most schools - except if something comes up and then you do begin to analyse that analytically.

You will need to include "energy" meditation to cover Taoist and some Vedic techniques and this is arguable for some Mahayana schools (and maybe some Theravadin techniques as well). You can also include meditation (or ritual) to acquire siddhi and whether the meditation practice itself can lead to various levels of enlightenment and in how much time (this will vary from school POV to school POV).

It seems to me you are not looking for a list of Buddhist meditations but rather all sorts of religious activities done in Buddhism. And that actually includes the entirety of Buddhism, like taking refuge, prostrations, reading, contemplating and listening to teachings, chanting, observing precepts, various rituals, freeing animals, and so on. Meditation is only a smaller part of those activities, and it is different from reciting texts, saying prayers, performing rituals, thinking about teachings, etc. Meditation is about actively calming (shamatha) and understanding (vipashyana) the mind with the purpose of attaining liberation. While for instance copying a sutra is a merit making activity, in itself it doesn't lead to seeing clearly the true nature of mind, and it doesn't even bring about any level of absorption, thus it is not a meditative practice, although it is certainly a Buddhist religious activity.

"There is no such thing as the real mind. Ridding yourself of delusion: that's the real mind."(Sheng-yen: Getting the Buddha Mind, p 73)

We are looking for a list of meditation styles AND "other activities," as explained in the OP:

Madhyama Pratipada wrote:In addition to meditation styles, we're interested in other activities people consider part of their formal practice, including but not limited to activities practiced on retreat. We also intend to run a survey/poll about the most widely used forms of meditation in the near future.

So this inquiry consists of two main questions:

1. What are the various forms of meditation that are practiced in Buddhism - whether specific to a certain school or universal to all schools?

2. What other activities (apart from meditation) are typical of your practice and/or retreat settings?

Many have already expressed how the boundary is not so clear. I would consider both to be important. Hence our reason for asking about both and combining the two questions above into the single question:

Madhyama Pratipada wrote:What would you call the practice (or set of practices) you do when you set aside time to practice?

Astus wrote:While for instance copying a sutra is a merit making activity, in itself it doesn't lead to seeing clearly the true nature of mind, and it doesn't even bring about any level of absorption, thus it is not a meditative practice, although it is certainly a Buddhist religious activity.

It can be a form of contemplation and it can certainly create a level of absorption, specifically as an object of focus and thus can be a meditative activity (and that in fact is claimed for it in several Japanese schools including the Jodo Shinshu [they don't quite call it meditative but come close]- I don't know about other East Asian schools).

I am not at all confident that our list properly represents all Buddhist practices and rely on others (particularly Vajrayanists) to point out where it might be inadequate.

If no feedback is received, I can conclude one of three things: 1) There is nothing to improve and the list can be considered a reliable resource, 2) The list is so flawed that no-one even knows where to start critiquing it, or 3) No-one cares.

Ramon1920 wrote:The idea of this is that you want to post instructions online for all these activities or create a venue for random people online to give instructions on these things as advice and support?

That's not the idea.

The purpose is to provide a list of meditation styles and other activities to help with logging one's practice online.

For instance, today I sat down for meditation four times (so far) of 30 minutes duration each, two of which were shikantaza, one of which was vipassana, and one of which was a combination of anapanasati and satipatthana. So I could therefore choose those practices from the list and log my practice in a chart.

Others might be partaking in various Vajrayana or Pureland practices while I or other members are partaking in Zen or Theravada practices, so they could choose their respective practices from the list as well. The list is there as a set of options to choose from, so the participant can quickly document their daily practice.